Method and system for dynamic pricing of web services utilization

ABSTRACT

A method and system for dynamic pricing of web services utilization. According to one embodiment, a method may include dynamically predicting utilization of a web services computing resource that is expected to occur during a given interval of time, and dependent upon the dynamically predicted utilization, setting a price associated with utilization of the web services computing resource occurring during the given interval of time. The method may further include providing the price to a customer.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to computing systems and, more particularly, tomanagement of utilization of computing resources by resource users.

2. Description of the Related Art

In order to implement various business functions, many enterprisesemploy a substantial degree of computing infrastructure, including datastorage systems, computer systems, networking and communicationsequipment, client hardware, etc. For example, an enterprise may deploy asubstantial amount of computing resources to implement databases andapplications configured to store and process data relating to inventoryand catalogs, manufacturing, finance/accounting, customers, ordering,and/or any other business function pertinent to the enterprise.

In many instances, computing resources may be provisioned according tothe maximum expected resource workload for a given quality of service.For example, the ability of the enterprise to receive and processcustomer orders placed via the internet may depend on computingresources such as internet communication bandwidth into the enterpriseand available computing and storage capacity to process orders. Theenterprise may wish to assure that delay experienced by customers duringordering is maintained below a certain level even during periods of highcustomer order volume. Correspondingly, the enterprise may provisionbandwidth, computing and storage capacity associated with the orderingsystem according to the peak level of expected ordering activity.

However, demand for computing resources may be highly variable. Forexample, customer activity may follow cyclical patterns over the courseof a given 24-hour period, depending on customer demographics andgeography. Further, customer activity may exhibit seasonal variation orlong-term trends. Additionally, demand may vary due to random orsingular events. If computing resources are provisioned according tocertain maximum expectations of demand, such resources may be relativelyidle during periods when demand is less than the maximum. Depending onthe overall pattern of demand, this may lead to significantlyinefficient use of computing resources.

SUMMARY

Various embodiments of a method and system for dynamic pricing of webservices utilization are disclosed. According to one embodiment, amethod may include dynamically predicting utilization of a web servicescomputing resource that is expected to occur during a given interval oftime, and dependent upon the dynamically predicted utilization, settinga price associated with utilization of the web services computingresource occurring during the given interval of time. The method mayfurther include providing the price to a customer.

In one specific implementation of the method, the web services computingresource may be configured to present a software function to thecustomer via a web services interface. In another specificimplementation of the method, the web services computing resource may beconfigured to present one or more of a data storage resource, aprocessing resource or a network communication resource to the customervia a web services interface.

In still other implementations of the method, setting the price mayinclude increasing or decreasing the price in response to determining ata particular time that utilization of the web services computingresource is predicted to be higher or lower, respectively, during thegiven interval of time than at the particular time.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of a system inwhich a computing resource may be configured for use by both enterpriseclients and external customers.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating another embodiment of anexemplary enterprise computing system.

FIG. 3 is a graph illustrating exemplary utilization of a computingresource over time.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating one embodiment of a method ofoffering incentives to customers to utilize a computing resource duringtimes when the resource is predicted to be underutilized.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating one embodiment of a particularmethod of offering an incentive to a customer to utilize a computingresource during a given interval of time.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating one embodiment of a method inwhich the offering of an incentive to utilize a computing resource maybe implicit in an arrangement made with a customer in advance of suchutilization.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating one embodiment of a method ofdynamic resource pricing.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of acomputer system.

While the invention is susceptible to various modifications andalternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way ofexample in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. Itshould be understood, however, that the drawings and detaileddescription thereto are not intended to limit the invention to theparticular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is tocover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within thespirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appendedclaims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Introduction

As mentioned above, in many enterprises that employ different types ofcomputing resources, such resources may be provisioned according to agiven level of resource utilization, such as a maximum level of customeractivity or a function of such a maximum level of activity, for example.The cost of provisioning such resources may thus correlate with themaximum level of resource utilization. For example, sufficient disks,server systems, bandwidth, etc. may need to be purchased, leased orotherwise provisioned to meet expectations for peak storagerequirements, processing activity, network traffic and so forth.

However, actual utilization of a given computing resource at any giventime may vary substantially relative to peak resource capacity. Forexample, an enterprise's network bandwidth utilization may vary by afactor of 9 between times of maximum and minimum utilization. Ifresource costs are measured relative to maximum utilization, such costsmay still be incurred even when utilization is less than maximum. Insuch circumstances, there may be few or no incremental costs associatedwith utilization levels less than the maximum level. That is, the degreeto which resource utilization is less than the maximum level may beconsidered spare, underutilized resource capacity that is available todo additional work for minimal additional cost.

As described in greater detail in the following discussion, in someembodiments, an enterprise may offer various incentives to customers toencourage those customers to utilize computing resources during timeswhen those resources are predicted to be underutilized. For example, anenterprise may offer data storage services, generic processing services,or specialized web services to customers. In some embodiments, theenterprise may offer discounts, promotions or other incentives to suchcustomers to utilize underutilized resources, such as by directlynotifying customers in advance of the availability and terms of anincentive offer. In so doing, the enterprise may in some circumstancesincrease its recovery of the costs of provisioning the resources, forexample by encouraging customers to pay some price for resources thatotherwise may have been idle. Even incentives that do not resultdirectly in revenue (e.g., offering resource utilization for free duringcertain periods) may result in indirect tangible or intangible benefits,such as increased advertising revenue due to increased web site traffic,increased visibility in the marketplace, increased customer goodwill,etc.

In addition to offering incentives based on predicted resourceunderutilization, in some instances an enterprise may dynamically pricevarious computing resources. That is, the enterprise may dynamically tiethe price to a customer of a resource at a given time to the predictedutilization of that resource at the given time. For example, in oneembodiment the enterprise may continuously vary the price of a webservices computing resource according to its predicted future level ofutilization, a prediction as to whether utilization is increasing ordecreasing overall, historical utilization data, or other relevantfactors. Such dynamic pricing may result in greater efficiency inrecovering value for resource utilization by customers, for example bybalancing resource demand generated by pricing adjustments againstexpected underutilized resource capacity.

In the following discussion, various embodiments of computing resourcesare first described in detail, including an exemplary embodiment of asystem configured to provide web services as a computing resource.Resource utilization and utilization dynamics are then discussed,followed by several exemplary embodiments of methods and techniques foroffering resource utilization incentives to customers as well as dynamicresource pricing. However, it is noted that this organization isintended to facilitate exposition, and the embodiments described hereinare not limited by section headings or the order in which the sectionsare presented.

Computing Resource Provisioning and Interfacing

Many enterprises employ various types of computing resources with whichto conduct enterprise activity. For example, an enterprise may provisionserver systems and network connectivity in order to implement internalprocesses or applications as well as to implement services or interfacesfor customers, supplier or other parties external to the enterprise. Insome embodiments, an enterprise's computing resources may be configurednot simply to implement the functions or applications of the enterprise,but may also be offered to clients or customers external to theenterprise for usage as determined by the external party. For example,in one embodiment a computing resource may include data storage capacity(e.g., magnetic disks, disk arrays, etc.). In one such embodiment, partof the storage resource may be configured to store enterprise data,while another part may be offered to an external customer to store dataof the customer's choosing at the direction of the customer.

One embodiment of a system in which a computing resource may beconfigured for use by both enterprise clients and external customers isillustrated in FIG. 1. In the illustrated embodiment, a computingresource 100 is presented to one or more enterprise resource clients 130via a local resource interface 110. Computing resource 100 is alsopresented to one or more external resource customers 140 via a webservices interface 120. Enterprise resource clients 130 and externalresources customers 140 may be referred to collectively as resourceusers.

Generally speaking, computing resource 100 may include any type ofresource that functions in support of a computing task. For example, insome embodiments computing resource 100 may include tangible resourcessuch as computer systems (e.g., standalone or rack-mounted systems),storage devices (e.g., magnetic/optical disk storage, tape storage,etc.), wired or wireless network communication devices (e.g., Local AreaNetwork (LAN)/Wide Area Network (WAN) devices and/or media),input/output devices, or other types of computing devices.

In other embodiments, computing resource 100 may be configured andutilized as an abstract hardware resource rather than a specifictangible resource. For example, in various embodiments computingresource 100 may be configured as one or more pools or classes ofgeneric data storage, network bandwidth, processing functionality, etc.,or combinations thereof, without distinction on the part of resourceusers as to the specific hardware devices underlying the resources. Thatis, in some embodiments, resource users may interact with a computingresource 100 as though it were a virtual device of some particular type(e.g., a virtual disk device, processor or network device).

Instances of computing resource 100 need not be restricted to tangibleor abstract types of hardware resources, however. In some embodiments,computing resource 100 may be configured to provide more complex,arbitrarily defined services to clients and customers. That is, insteadof being configured to perform a generic storage, communication orprocessing function, in some embodiments computing resource 100 may beconfigured to provide more specialized functions to resource users. Suchembodiments of computing resource 100 may be generically referred to assoftware resources. For example, in some embodiments computing resource100 may include a database service that may evaluate queries submittedby users against a particular stored data set; a data transformationservice that accepts a particular type of data as input, applies atransformation to the input, and returns the result; or other types ofcomputing services that provide output or take actions according to analgorithm or program as a function of input data or commands. Morespecific examples of services that may be provided by variousembodiments of computing resource 100 may include inventory catalogservices (e.g., for determining retail inventory availability, pricing,etc.), transaction processing services (e.g., for processing orders,payments, etc.), data modeling services (e.g., predictive modeling offuture product sales modeling, pricing, etc.), and other suitable typesof services. In some embodiments, access to hardware and/or servicetypes of computing resources 100 may be provided through a web servicesinterface as described in greater detail below. Additionally, in someembodiments, computing resource 100 may be configured to function as aninterface or “front end” to another resource that may not be a computingresource. For example, in one embodiment computing resource 100 mayprovide a scheduling or queuing interface for tasks to be performed,e.g., by a human agent.

In some embodiments, virtualization of tangible devices into an abstracthardware computing resource 100, or configuration of various otherresources as a service computing resource 100, may be performed withinresource 100 itself. For example, with respect to abstract hardwareresources, in one embodiment a standalone disk array may includemultiple physical disks as well as hardware and software configured toorganize and present the physical disks as one or more virtualizeddevices or volumes to be presented as computing resources 100.Similarly, in one embodiment a computer system including multipleprocessors may be configured to manage processor scheduling internallyand may present itself as a single virtual source of processing cycles(e.g., a virtual processor type of computing resource 100). With respectto service resources, in one embodiment a computer system may beconfigured with appropriate hardware and software to function as anapplication server, e.g., a server configured to perform specific typesof functions upon request, which functions may be offered as servicesthat may be performed upon the request of users. In some suchembodiments, the particular services provided by the application servermay be treated as computing resources 100.

In other embodiments, virtualization or abstraction of devices intoabstract hardware resources or service resources may be controlled ormanaged by interfaces between resource users and the entities underlyingthe resources. For example, in one embodiment local resource interface110 and/or web services interface 120 may be configured to performvirtualization functions with respect to underlying resources 100 onbehalf of resource consumers.

It is noted that in some embodiments, computing resource 100 mayencompass human as well as machine resources. For example, in someembodiments computing resource 100 may include human task performers,such as employees or contract workers who may receive work to performvia local resource interface 110 and/or web services interface 120. Suchhuman task performers may, for example, be assigned to perform tasksthat may be difficult to automate or implement via a software algorithm,such as image classification, complex customer service operations, orother suitable tasks.

In various embodiments, entities underlying abstracted or virtualizedcomputing resources 100 may or may not themselves be visible asresources 100 to various resource users. In some embodiments, differentresource users may view resources 100 at different levels ofabstraction. For example, in one embodiment an application program maybe configured to interact with storage through a file system resource100 that organizes physical details of underlying storage devicestransparently to the application, while a different program may beconfigured to bypass a file system and interact directly with underlyingstorage devices as resources 100.

In the illustrated embodiment, enterprise resource clients 130 areconfigured to access computing resource 100 via local resource interface110 (also referred to as local interface 110, or simply interface 110).Interface 110 may generally encompass any suitable interface (orcollection of interfaces) to resource 100, such as an applicationprogramming interface (API), a hardware device interface, a standardcommunication protocol interface (e.g., a TCP/IP port), a custom orproprietary interface, etc. Implementation details of interface 110 mayvary in various embodiments depending on the types of enterpriseresource clients 130 serviced by the interface as well as the resource100 interfaced to. For example, in some embodiments clients 130 mayinclude application programs executing on the same underlying computersystem as a service resource 100, which applications may communicatewith the resource 100 via an API call local to the computer system. Inother embodiments, clients 130 may include applications or systemsconfigured to interact with resources 100 via a network, in which caseinterface 110 may encompass, for example, networking protocols as wellas API calls specific to the resource 100.

Interface 110 may serve as a relatively passive conduit for data andcontrol information passing between clients 130 and resource 100,although as described above, in some embodiments, interface 110 may alsomanage various aspects of configuration, virtualization, etc. of aresource 100. More generally, in some embodiments the path ofinteraction between a given client 130 and resource 100 may involve theinteraction of numerous different systems, devices, and layers ofabstraction. In some such embodiments interface 110 may encompass allaspects of such a path.

In the illustrated embodiment, external resource customers 140 mayaccess computing resource 100 via web services interface 120 (alsoreferred to as WS interface 120, or simply interface 120). In someembodiments, WS interface 120 may be distinct from local interface 110,which may allow external customers access to resource 100 underdifferent usage policies, interfacing conventions, etc. from thoseapplied to enterprise clients 130. However, in some embodiments, bothinternal enterprise clients 130 and external resource customers 140 mayaccess computing resource 100 through a web services interface similarto interface 120. A computing resource 100 that may be accessed via aweb services interface may also be referred to as a web servicesresource 100. In such embodiments, access to certain resources 100 maybe governed by similar web services interfacing conventions regardlessof the nature of the resource user. However, in some such embodiments,user-specific policies may be used to differentiate types of resources auser may access, levels and frequency of permissible usage, or othertypes of resource controls based on the type of user (e.g., internal orexternal), the specific identity of the user, or other relevant factors.

Generally speaking, a web services interface such as interface 120 mayencompass a variety of standardized APIs configured to allow differentsoftware programs to communicate (e.g., to request services and respondto such requests) in an autonomous, typically platform-independentmanner. For example, an enterprise may choose to expose certainenterprise data (e.g., catalog data, inventory data, customer data orother types of data) and/or certain enterprise functions (e.g., queryfunctions, electronic commerce functions, generic data storage orcomputational functions, etc.) to external customers (or, in someembodiments, internal clients) via a web services interface.Applications could then access the exposed data and/or functions via theweb services interface, even though the accessing application may beconfigured to execute on an entirely different platform (e.g., adifferent operating system or system architecture) than the platformhosting the exposed data or functions.

In some embodiments, web services interface 120 may encompass the use ofparticular protocols to publish available web services to potentialusers, to describe the interfaces of web services sufficiently to allowusers to invoke web services properly, to allow users to select anddifferentiate among web services for a particular transaction, and toprovide a format for exchanging web services data in a flexible andplatform-independent manner. Specifically, in one embodiment a providerof a web services resource 100 may register the service via interface120 using a version of the Universal Discovery Description andIntegration (UDDI) protocol, which may function as a general directorythrough which potential resource users may locate web services ofinterest. The web services provider may also publish specific detailsregarding how a well-formed web services request from a user should beformatted (e.g., what specific parameters are required or allowed, thedata type or format to be used for a given parameter, etc.). Forexample, such interface details may be published (e.g., within a UDDIdirectory entry) using a version of the Web Services DescriptionLanguage (WSDL).

In many embodiments, web services request and response data is exchangedthrough interface 120 through the use of messages or documents formattedas platform-independent structured data, such as a document formatted incompliance with a version of eXtensible Markup Language (XML). Forexample, in one embodiment a request to a web services resource 100 toprovide current pricing information for a given inventory item may beembodied in an XML document including fields identifying the item ofinterest, the type of data requested (e.g., pricing data), and possiblyother fields, in which each field is delimited by an XML tag describingthe type of data the field represents. The response to such a requestfrom web services resource 100 may include an XML document containingthe requested data. In some embodiments, web services-related documentsmay be transmitted between applications making requests and targeted webservices using a web-based data transfer protocol, such as a version ofthe Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), for example.

Different types of web services requests and responses may yield XMLdocuments that bear little content in common, which may complicate thehandling and interpretation of such documents. For example, in differentversions of a free-form XML document specifying a web services request,the actual web services resource 100 that is requested may appear atdifferent places within different document versions, which may require arecipient of the document to buffer or parse a good deal of documentdata before understanding what the document is for. Consequently, insome embodiments, the XML documents containing web servicesrequest/response data may encapsulated within additional XML data usedto define a messaging framework, e.g., a generic format for exchangingdocuments or messages having arbitrary content. For example, in oneembodiment web services requests or responses may be XML documentsformatted according to a version of the Simple Object Access Protocol(SOAP), which in various versions may define distinct document sectionssuch as an “envelope” (e.g., which may include a specification of thedocument type, the intended recipient web service, etc.) as well as amessage body that may include arbitrary XML message data (e.g., theparticular details of the web services request). However, in someembodiments, web services may be implemented using different protocolsand standards for publishing services and formatting and exchangingmessages.

A more detailed embodiment of an enterprise computing systemillustrative of the system of FIG. 1 is shown in FIG. 2. In theillustrated embodiment, resources local to the enterprise include anarbitrary number of server systems 210 a-n each coupled to an enterpriseintranet 220. Server system 210 a is configured to host a web service215, although other systems 210 may also be configured to host webservices. Enterprise clients (not shown in FIG. 2) are configured toaccess server systems 210 (and, in some embodiments, web service 215)via intranet 220.

Server systems 210 interface with resources external to the enterprisevia web services gateway 230, which is in turn coupled to internet 240.An arbitrary number of customer systems 250 a-n are coupled to internet240 and configured to generate web services traffic, some of which maytarget web services hosted by enterprise server systems 210 such as webservice 215. In particular, customer system 250 a hosts a requestingapplication 255 that may be configured to generate web services requestsand to receive responses, although other systems 250 may also beconfigured to host applications. It is noted that the system topologyshown in FIG. 2 is only one example of a possible system configuration,and that numerous variations and extensions of such a system arepossible and contemplated.

In various embodiments, server systems 210 may include any suitablesystems that may be configured to host web services or other types ofcomputing resources 100. For example, in one embodiment a given serversystem 210 may include a standalone or rack-mountable computer systemincluding one or several processors (e.g., processors compatible withthe x86, SPARC™, Power™/PowerPCT™, or other suitable instruction setarchitectures), system memory, networking and/or other peripheralsupport. Further, in various embodiments server systems 210 may beconfigured to execute a variety of operating systems (e.g., versions ofMicrosoft Windows™, Sun Solaris™, Linux, Unix, or other suitableoperating systems) as well as applications configured for operation on aparticular processor architecture and operating system. In someembodiments, server systems 210 may be referred to as applicationservers. Generally speaking, the number and specific configuration ofserver systems 210 may vary depending on the needs of an enterprise andits customers, and may range from a small number of high-performancesystems (e.g., expensive, custom server systems) to a large number ofgeneric systems (e.g., a cluster or grid of commodity systems), or anysuitable combination thereof. Intranet 220 through which server systems210 are interconnected may generally encompass any suitable type ofnetworking technology, such as wired or wireless Ethernet, token-ring,optical fiber, or other types of local/wide-area/metropolitan-areanetworking technology (LAN/WAN/MAN).

Depending on the context in which computing resources are defined forresource users, either server systems 210, web services 215 or both maybe illustrative of computing resource 100 of FIG. 1. For example, insome embodiments, server systems 210 may be made available to resourceusers as generic processing or storage computing resources 100, while inother embodiments, server systems 210 may implement web services 215transparently to resource users, such that web services 215 may be theonly computing resources 100 visible to resource users.

In some embodiments, enterprise-side resources may include other devicesor entities not shown in FIG. 2. For example, in some embodiments theenterprise may include additional systems coupled to intranet 220 andconfigured to function as client systems to server systems 210, e.g., bysubmitting enterprise-internal requests for web services or othercomputing resources to server systems 210. Also, in some embodiments theenterprise may include storage devices distinct from server systems 210that may be coupled to intranet 220, such as via network attachedstorage (NAS), storage area networks (SAN) or other suitable storageinterfacing technologies.

Customer systems 250 may generally include any type of system capable ofgenerating web services traffic such as web services requests. Forexample, in some embodiments customer systems 250 may be configured asserver systems similar to server systems 210, such as when customersystems 250 are configured as enterprise servers within anotherenterprise (e.g., in embodiments in which the system of FIG. 2 isconfigured to process business-to-business transactions). In otherembodiments, customer systems 250 may be standalone systems (e.g.,desktop or laptop machines), handheld devices, cellular phones, thinclient systems, or any other type of system capable of hosting arequesting application 255 and interacting with other systems viainternet 240. In some embodiments, customer systems 250 may communicatewith internet 240 indirectly, such as via internet service providers,internal gateway/proxy systems or other intermediate devices orentities. Generally speaking, requesting application 255 may include anytype of application capable of generating web services requests andreceiving responses. In some embodiments, application 255 may include aweb browser or other type of HTTP-aware interface, although it iscontemplated that any type of application (e.g., custom/proprietaryapplications, office applications, etc.) may be so configured. Customersystems 250 and/or applications 255 may generally be illustrative ofexternal resource customers 140 as shown in FIG. 1.

In the illustrated embodiment, web services traffic may enter and exitthe enterprise via web services gateway 230, which may in variousembodiments include one or more routers, servers or other devicesconfigurable to separate web services traffic from other types ofinternet traffic for processing. In some embodiments, web servicesgateway 230 may be configured to perform additional functions, such asrouting specific web services requests to corresponding server systems210 according to request type, load-balancing concerns, or otherapplicable routing factors. Segregating web services traffic from othertypes of traffic via web services gateway 230 may in some embodimentsfacilitate the application of different classes of policies to differenttypes of computing resource utilization. For example, as described ingreater detail below, different policies regarding resource utilization,resource pricing or other terms of service may be applied to externalcustomers vs. resource users internal to an enterprise, or to webservices utilization vs. utilization of other computing resources 100.However, in some embodiments, gateway 230 may be omitted. In suchembodiments, the functionality of gateway 230 may be incorporated intoone or more server systems 210 in addition to the other tasks performedby those systems. Alternatively, each server system 210 may beconfigured to directly receive web services and other types of trafficfrom internet 240 without such traffic being filtered or redirected byan intermediate device. When present, gateway 230 may be illustrative ofa portion of the functionality provided by web services interface 120 ofFIG. 1. However, in various implementations as described above, aspectsof web services interface 120 may be distributed between client systemsor applications configured to make web services requests (e.g., customersystems 250/applications 255) and host systems configured to implementservices that evaluate and respond to such requests (e.g., serversystems 210/web services 215).

In the illustrated embodiment, web services gateway is configured tohost utilization prediction logic 235. In various embodiments,utilization prediction logic 235 may be software or hardware configuredto implement any of the methods and techniques for predicting andpricing utilization of computing resources 100 (e.g., web services 215)described below in conjunction with the descriptions of FIGS. 4-7. Insome embodiments, utilization prediction logic 235 may be configured toperform such methods and techniques on behalf of multiple resources 100within an enterprise, while in other embodiments, individual instancesof utilization prediction logic 235 may be implemented for each resource100 of interest. For example, in some embodiments each of server systems210 may host one or more instances of utilization prediction logic 235corresponding to the web service(s) 210 hosted by the respective server210.

Resource Utilization

Computing resources 100 are generally finite resources, and a givenconfiguration of a particular computing resource 100 generally exhibitsan upper limit on the degree to which that resource may be utilized by auser (which limit may also be referred to as resource capacity),although for many different types of resources 100, the upper limit maybe readily altered by adjusting the configuration to add or removeresource capacity. For example, a storage or communication resource 100may have a certain limit on the quantity of data that can be stored ortransmitted over any given time. More sophisticated resources, such as,e.g., web services resources 100, may have more complex capacity limitsthat may be a function of the capacities of underlying resources. Forexample, utilization of web services resources 100 may be constrained bylimits on available computing power (e.g., number of transactions orinstructions per second executable by server systems 210), data storage(e.g., number of bytes of capacity available for storing data associatedwith the web services transaction) and/or communications bandwidth(e.g., number of bytes or transactions per second that may betransmitted to/from server systems 210).

Generally speaking, the total utilization of a given computing resource100 may be measured and expressed in units appropriate to the resourcetype. For example, utilization of a storage resource may be measured interms of a quantity of data stored (e.g., bytes, megabytes (MB),gigabytes (GB), etc.) per unit of time (e.g., second, day, month, etc.).Similarly, communication bandwidth utilization may be measured in termsof a quantity of data transmitted per unit of time (e.g., megabits persecond). Processing resource utilization may be measured as an aggregatenumber of units of processing effort (e.g., central processing unit(CPU) cycles, transactions, etc.) utilized, or as a rate of processingeffort utilization per unit of time (e.g., CPU cycles or transactionsper second).

In some embodiments, measures of resource utilization may be normalizedto account for variations in different resource implementations. Forexample, a CPU cycle may represent a different level of processingeffort for two different processor implementations, such that oneprocessor completes half as much processing work of a given task in agiven cycle as another processor. Consequently, in some embodimentswhere different types of processing resources 100 are provided,utilization of such resources may be expressed as normalized processingeffort equivalents. For more complex or abstract computing resources100, such as a web services resource 100 as described above, resourceutilization may be measured in more abstract units, such as number ofoperations or transactions requested or completed per unit of time(e.g., number of web services requests per second). As different typesof web services requests may require different amounts of effort toprocess (similar to processing resource utilization described above), insome embodiments web services resource utilization may be expressed interms normalized to required processing effort of various requests asopposed to the raw number of requests made.

In various embodiments, it is noted that resource utilization may beexpressed either in absolute terms, as just described, or as a fractionof a total resource capacity. For example, for a communication resource100 configured for a total capacity of 100 megabits/second, itsutilization at a particular point in time may be expressed as, e.g., 75megabits/second or 75% of total capacity.

A particular computing resource 100 may be provisioned according to agiven level or a given expected level of resource utilization of theparticular resource 100. In some embodiments, the given level ofresource utilization may correspond to some function of a capacity ofresource 100. For example, in some embodiments the capacity of a givenresource 100 (e.g., a server resource) may be fixed or not readilyexpandable, such that the utilization of given resource 100 iseffectively limited or constrained by its capacity. In some suchembodiments, the given level of resource utilization for which theparticular resource 100 is provisioned may correspond approximately tothe total capacity of the particular resource 100. That is, the givenlevel of resource utilization may correspond to a maximum utilization ofthe particular resource 100, as determined by its total capacity. Inother embodiments, additional resource capacity over and above thecapacity needed to support the given utilization may be provided, e.g.,as buffer or reserve capacity in case of unexpected increases inresource demand. For example, if a maximum expected daily utilization ofa storage resource 100 is 100 GB, in some embodiments the storageresource 100 may be provisioned to store a total of, say, 120 GB, thusproviding 20 GB of capacity in excess of the maximum expectedutilization. In such an embodiment, the given level of resourceutilization may correspond to a function of the maximum utilization ofthe resource 100, such as 83% of the maximum, capacity-constrainedutilization.

In other embodiments, a given resource 100 may be provisioned accordingto a given level of utilization based on factors other than capacity ofgiven resource 100. For example, provisioning a given resource 100 mayinclude arranging for a third party to provide the given resource 100under specific terms of service. Generally speaking, terms of servicemay characterize the conditions and obligations under which the thirdparty is to provide the given resource 100, and the costs, constraintsor obligations incurred by the customer in utilizing the given resource100. Terms of service may generally include cost, measurement andpayment models, rate structures, quality of service guarantees, or anyother aspect of the relationship between the resource provider and thecustomer. In such an embodiment, the terms of service may prescribe thata customer incur a cost for the given level of resource utilizationirrespective of the underlying capacity of the given resource 100. Forexample, a customer may be charged for actual utilization of a resourcesuch as the bandwidth of traffic over a network communication resource100. In such embodiments, resource utilization may not be effectivelyconstrained by resource capacity, but rather by the terms of serviceunder which the resource is provisioned. For example, an arbitrarydegree of additional utilization in excess of the given, provisionedlevel may be possible, but at an additional cost, such as a monetarycost, decreased quality of service, increased latency, or other suitablecost factors.

In some embodiments, the total cost to an enterprise of provisioning agiven computing resource 100 may depend directly or indirectly upon thegiven utilization of the given resource 100. That is, the totalimplemented resource capacity (e.g., quantity of storage, number ofservers, number of employees or task performers, web services processingcapacity, etc.) may be that which is sufficient to accommodate the givenutilization, either alone or with a margin for reserve capacity.Further, in such embodiments, the total implemented resource capacitymay determine resource cost.

In other embodiments, the total cost of provisioning a computingresource 100 may depend upon historical utilization of the resource 100.That is, instead of paying for a fixed amount of capacity of aparticular computing resource 100, an enterprise may provision theparticular resource 100 according to a particular capacity and then payfor the particular resource 100 according to actual usage of theresource capacity. For example, an enterprise may provision acommunication link (e.g., a high-bandwidth digital communicationchannel, such as an OC-48 or OC-192 link, a T1 or T3 link, etc.) havinga certain total capacity. The enterprise may then pay a third party foractual usage of the communication link, e.g., according to the maximumlevel of actual utilization of the link (or a certain fraction or otherfunction of the maximum level) over a given period of time. For example,in one embodiment the cost of the link during a 24-hour period may bedetermined according to 95% of the maximum link utilization (e.g., asmeasured during intervals of seconds, minutes, hours, etc.) during that24-hour period. Numerous other utilization-based cost models ofcomputing resource 100 are possible and contemplated.

Regardless of whether costs of provisioning a computing resource 100 aredetermined according to total capacity or peak actual utilization oftotal capacity, in some instances, computing resource 100 may beunderutilized at various points in time. That is, computing resource 100may be utilized at a level that is less than the given utilization levelthat determines resource cost. One example of this situation isillustrated in the graph of FIG. 3. In the illustrated example, acomputing resource 100 may be provisioned according to a given level ofexpected or actual utilization as described above. The given expected oractual utilization may be less than the total capacity of resource 100as shown, although in some embodiments this may not be the case.

As shown in FIG. 3, utilization of a computing resource 100 varieswidely over time. In embodiments where resource cost depends on a givenexpected or actual resource utilization, as described above, that costmay be incurred even during times when utilization falls below the givenlevel. Consequently, when actual utilization falls below the givenutilization, excess or underutilized resource capacity exists that maybe devoted to performing additional work without impacting resourcecost. That is, under such conditions actual utilization may be increasedto the given level without incurring incremental resource costs.However, by the time actual utilization of a computing resource 100 isdefinitively determined, the utilization has typically already occurred,and thus the opportunity to increase utilization to take advantage ofunderutilized capacity may have passed. One exemplary period of resourceunderutilization is illustrated by the shaded area shown in FIG. 3.However, numerous different patterns of resource utilization andunderutilization are possible and contemplated. For example, suchpatterns need not be cyclical or symmetrical.

Resource Incentives and Pricing

As described above with respect to FIGS. 1 & 2, in some embodiments anenterprise may provision resources 100 for utilization both by internalresource clients 130 and external customers 140. In one embodiment of amethod as illustrated in FIG. 4, the enterprise may offer incentives tocustomers to utilize a computing resource 100 during times when theresource is predicted to be underutilized. In some embodiments, themethod of FIG. 4 or a suitable variation may be implemented as programinstructions stored by a computer accessible-medium and executable, forexample by computing resource 100 itself, one or more of server systems210, web services gateway 230, a dedicated resource management computersystem (not shown), or another suitable device, as described in greaterdetail below in conjunction with the description of FIG. 8. Referringcollectively to FIGS. 1-4, operation begins in block 400 where computingresource 100 is provisioned according to a given level of resourceutilization. For example, as described above, in one embodiment acertain amount of resource capacity such as storage, processing, webservices request or other resource capacity may be provisioned, and thecost of such provisioning may be determined according to the provisionedcapacity. Alternatively, in some embodiments the cost of resourceprovisioning may be determined according to actual resource utilization,as in the bandwidth-utilization example described previously.

The utilization of the provisioned computing resource 100 during a giveninterval of time is then dynamically predicted (block 402). As suggestedabove, the likelihood of increasing utilization of underutilizedresource capacity during a particular interval of time may be enhancedto the extent that underutilization is detected in advance of theparticular interval, which may enable additional work to be scheduledduring that interval as described below. Such detection in advance mayentail making a prediction, which may be performed by, e.g., apredictive model configured to receive inputs and to predict a variabledependent upon those inputs.

In some instances, resource utilization during a given interval of timemay be predicted according to static, invariant inputs, such as the typeof the resource 100 being predicted, the identity of the interval, etc.For example, in one embodiment, utilization of a communication resource100 may be statically predicted according to the interval of interest(e.g., may be statically predicted to be 15% during the hour 1:00-1:59a.m., 67% during the hour 10:00-10:59 a.m., etc.). By contrast, adynamic predictive model of resource utilization may take into accountsimilar static variables as a static prediction, but may also depend onactual historical behavior of some inputs to the prediction. Forexample, in one embodiment a dynamic prediction of utilization of acommunication resource 100 during the interval of 10:00-10:59 a.m. mayinclude a static baseline prediction (e.g., 67%) that may be adjusted upor down depending on historical utilization of the communicationresource 100 during the preceding hour or several hours, the same houron a preceding day, or other historical data of interest. In otherembodiments, a prediction may be determined entirely dynamically, e.g.,as a function of a previous prediction or historical observation withoutbeginning from a static baseline assumption. It is contemplated that insome embodiments, dynamic predictions of resource utilization fordifferent intervals of time may differ, perhaps substantially, dependingon the current and historical state of variables relevant to thedifferent intervals at the time the predictions occur.

While a dynamic prediction of utilization may take into accounthistorical behavior of certain variables, in one embodiment a dynamicprediction of utilization may take into account primarily the currentstate of such variables. For example, according to one such dynamicprediction, future utilization during a time interval of interest may bepredicted to be some function of current utilization (e.g., the same ascurrent utilization) measured at the time the prediction is made. Insome embodiments, such a dynamic prediction may be updated in real timeor near-real time as data on current utilization changes. Thus, in someembodiments, the offering of an incentive to utilize the resource, asdescribed below, may be based on some measure of current utilization.More particularly, in some embodiments, the prediction may be simplythat the current utilization is likely to continue for some given periodof time into the future. The period of time may be selected so as to besufficiently brief that the prediction is reasonably likely to remainvalid throughout the duration of the selected period. The incentive, forexample a reduction in price, may likewise be selected to be such thatthe utilization that results in response to the incentive is expected tonot exceed the utilization thus predicted.

It is noted that in some embodiments, dynamic predictive models mayincorporate historical behavior of variables other than the variable(e.g., utilization) being predicted. For example, utilization of aresource 100 may be correlated with pricing of the resource 100, suchthat a dynamic utilization prediction may take historical resourcepricing information into account. Depending on the complexity of thepredictive model employed, a number of variables seemingly tangential tothe variable being predicted may be reflected in the dynamic predictionmodel. For example, a sale or marketing promotion relating to itemsbeing sold by an enterprise may correlate with increased utilization ofa communication resource 100 (e.g., as increased numbers of customersvisit a web site to make purchases). By extension, variables taken intoaccount in dynamically predicting resource utilization need not bepurely historical, but may also reflect future predictions or plansregarding other variables. For example, previously scheduled work,resource maintenance, planned business activities (e.g., promotions,liquidations, acquisitions, product line/manufacturing adjustments,etc.) or other suitable prospective variables, or combinations thereof,may be accounted for by various embodiments of a dynamic predictivemodel.

Thus, in various embodiments, dynamically predicting utilization of acomputing resource 100 may include examining historical behavior of thatcomputing resource 100 and/or other relevant historical variables. Inother embodiments, dynamically predicting utilization of a computingresource 100 may include examining other predictions or future plansregarding relevant variables in addition to or instead of historicaldata. It is noted that although in some embodiments, the output of adynamic prediction of utilization may include a concrete metricregarding predicted utilization, such as, e.g., an absolute quantity orpercentage of utilization, in other embodiments this need not be thecase. Rather, in some embodiments, the output of a dynamic prediction ofutilization may include a range of values, a confidence interval,utilization trend information relative to the time of the prediction(e.g., a general indication that utilization is expected toincrease/decrease), or other representations of possible future statesof utilization.

It is further noted that in some embodiments, a prediction regarding anyvariable that contributes to utilization may be regarded as a predictionof utilization. For example, in one embodiment, historical sales datamay bear a sufficient relationship to utilization of a computationalresource 100 that a prediction regarding such sales data (appropriatelyscaled or transformed) may function as an acceptable proxy for predictedutilization. In such an embodiment, prediction of sales data mayconstitute a prediction of utilization. Also, in such embodiments, it isnoted that dynamic prediction of utilization may be implicit in thedynamic prediction of other variables. That is, in some embodiments,some action (such as offering an incentive, as described below) may betaken on the basis of dynamically predicting variables indicative ofutilization without directly computing a value, range or otherindication of utilization. For example, in an embodiment whereutilization U may be dynamically predicted as a function of a set ofvariables U=f(A, B, C . . . ), and where some action A may be taken as afunction of dynamically predicted utilization A=g(U), then it may bepossible to directly determine action A directly from the inputvariables A=h(A, B, C . . . ). In such an embodiment, a dynamicprediction of utilization may not be directly produced as a discreteresult, but may be implicit in the process leading to the determinationof action A.

It is noted that the time interval for which dynamic prediction ofresource utilization may be performed may vary in scope in variousembodiments. For example, in one embodiment, utilization may bepredicted for intervals of seconds or minutes in duration, while inanother embodiment, predicted intervals may be measured in hours, daysor another suitable duration. Additionally, the difference between thetime utilization is predicted for a given interval and the time thegiven interval actually begins may vary in various embodiments. Forexample, in one embodiment a dynamic predictive model may be configuredto predict resource utilization for an interval beginning at the currenttime, while in other embodiments prediction may occur for intervals thatbegin minutes, hours, days, etc. into the future. In some embodiments,dynamically predicting resource utilization for relatively shortintervals relatively close to the present time may enable a finer degreeof control over how additional work may be scheduled to use capacitythat is predicted to be underutilized.

After utilization of the provisioned computing resource 100 isdynamically predicted for a given interval of time, it is determinedwhether the predicted utilization will be less than the given level ofutilization for which the resource was provisioned (as that given levelmay be determined, e.g., by total capacity, maximum expected utilizationwith provision for reserve capacity, maximum historical utilization(such as a previous 24-hour peak utilization), etc.) (block 404). If thepredicted utilization is not less than the given level of utilization(or, in some embodiments, if the difference between predicted and givenutilization does not exceed a certain threshold value), no furtheraction is taken (block 406).

If the predicted utilization is less than the given level of utilization(by at least the threshold value, if a threshold value is implemented),an incentive is offered to a customer, such as external customers 140,to utilize provisioned computing resource 100 during at least a portionof the given interval of time corresponding to the prediction (block408). Many different models of offering an incentive to a customer toutilize potentially underutilized resources are possible andcontemplated, and several such models are described below in conjunctionwith the descriptions of FIGS. 5 & 6. However, it is noted that acustomer's utilization of a resource 100 that is predicted to beotherwise underutilized during a given interval of time may result inlittle to no incremental cost to the enterprise, as the resource costmay be determined by the given level of utilization for which theresource was provisioned.

In one embodiment, the incentive offered to a customer to utilize acomputing resource 100 may be a direct financial incentive related to acost normally charged for the use of computing resource 100. Forexample, in one embodiment, offering an incentive for resourceutilization that is desired to occur during a given interval of time mayinclude offering a discount (e.g., a percentage or fixed reduction) onthe rate ordinarily charged for utilization during the given interval.Thus, for example, web services requests may ordinarily be charged aflat rate 0.5 cents per request, and an incentive to utilize a webservices resource 100 may include applying a 50% discount to the usualflat rate during the incentive interval, resulting in a rate of 0.25cents per request. It is noted that any mention herein of specificprices, costs, rates, capacities, measures of utilization, discounts,etc. is strictly exemplary, and that any suitable quantities may be usedin place of those mentioned, without limitation.

However, in some embodiments, offering incentives may involve othermethods of increasing the scope or volume of a resource 100 available toa customer beyond simple rate discounting, depending upon the method forwhich a customer is charged for utilization of resource 100 (the“pricing model”). For example, according to one resource pricing model,a customer may be allowed a specific level of access to a given resource100 for a given cost (e.g., 1 web services request per second, 100kilobits/second of network bandwidth, 2 GB of storage per day, etc.).Offering a utilization incentive within such a pricing model may includeincreasing the level of resource access while keeping the cost the same(e.g., allowing an arbitrary or even unlimited number of web servicesrequests per second, etc.). Similarly, according to one pricing model, acustomer may be allowed fixed or unlimited access to a certain subset ofresources 100 for a given cost, but no access to other resources 100.Offering an incentive in this scenario may include expanding the scopeof resources 100 available to the customer. For example, in oneembodiment both delayed and real-time financial data may be availablethrough a web services resource 100 for different costs. For a customerwho subscribes to delayed data, a utilization incentive may include anoffer of access to real-time data for little or no additional costduring the interval of interest.

It is noted that in some embodiments, incentives related to level andscope of access to resources 100 may be applicable even for resources100 for which no cost is charged to a customer. For example, anenterprise may allow a certain level or scope of resource access tocustomers without charge as a promotional or marketing strategy, as agoodwill gesture, etc. In one such embodiment, offering incentives mayvariously expand the ways in which customers may access and use suchresources 100 during the incentive interval, even if such utilizationremains without charge.

Numerous other types of incentive structures are possible andcontemplated. For example, in various embodiments, offering an incentiveto a customer may include offering a rebate to be paid to the customerat a later date, offering a credit against future usage, offeringcredit, goods or services sourced from a third party (e.g., apromotional partner), bundling of goods or services ordinarily offeredseparately, or any other suitable model of incentive. Additionally, insome embodiments, incentives may be offered under various customer termsor conditions, such as prepayment for utilization, volume or quantityrequirements on the amount of utilization to be used, etc.

For example, in one embodiment a discount incentive may be offered to acustomer to promote utilization of a computing resource 100 under thecondition that the customer agrees to purchase a certain amount ofresource utilization during the time interval of interest, irrespectiveof whether the customer actually utilizes the purchased utilization. Forinstance, if requests to a web services resource 100 are ordinarilypriced at a rate of 0.5 cents per request, a customer may be offered theopportunity to perform up to 100 web services requests during aparticular ten-minute interval of predicted web servicesunderutilization for a cost of 20 cents. If the customer actuallyperforms the full number of requests allowed under the incentive, thecustomer may realize a discount of 60% relative to the ordinary rate. Insome such incentive structures, circumstances may exist in which thecustomer may pay more for resource utilization than if the customer hadnot agreed to the terms of the incentive. Referring to the example justdescribed, if the customer makes fewer than 40 web services requestsduring the specified ten-minute interval, the effective cost per requestmay be greater than the ordinary 0.5 cent rate. Thus, utilizationincentives offered to customers may in some embodiments involve risk onthe part of the customer, such as the risk of failing to financiallybreak even (relative to the costs of declining the incentive) ifincentive conditions are not met.

Incentives need not be structured as discounts, credits or othermonetary terms. For example, in some embodiments, an enterprise mightoffer a number of levels of quality of service to which a customer maysubscribe, under a corresponding fee or rate structure, according tospecific terms of service. In such embodiments, an incentive may offersuch a customer access to an improved level or quality of service forthe same rate structure. For example, a subscriber to a “silver” levelof service that is associated with one set of service parameters (e.g.,bandwidth, transaction speed, transaction volume, support level, or anyother appropriate parameters) may be temporarily offered, as anincentive, access to a “gold” level of service associated with animproved set of service parameters.

As described above, in one embodiment the offering of an incentive toutilize a particular resource 100 is dependent upon predictedunderutilization of that resource during a particular time interval. Insome instances, a customer that accepts the incentive offer and beginsutilizing the resource 100 during the particular time interval may notcomplete utilizing the resource 100 by the end of the particular timeinterval, or the end of a time boundary specific to the incentive offer.For example, the customer may purchase a certain quantity (e.g., 10seconds) of processing time of a web services resource 100, to be usedduring a specified time interval, but a particular web services requestsubmitted by the customer may overrun the allotted quantity ofprocessing time or the end of the incentive time interval. In variousembodiments, such incentive boundary conditions may be handled in avariety of ways. For example, in one embodiment a customer's utilizationof a resource 100 may simply be terminated when an incentive timeinterval expires, when a customer has exceeded the terms of theincentive, etc. In another embodiment, a customer may be allowed tocontinue utilizing resource 100, but under modified terms. For example,the customer may immediately be charged a maximum rate for any resourceutilization that extends beyond the terms or time interval of theincentive. Alternatively, the customer may be charged a rate thatprogressively increases over time, culminating in a maximum rate.

It is noted that in some instances, a customer's continued utilizationof a resource 100 beyond the time horizon of the prediction thatinitially led to the incentive offer may result in undesirable resourceutilization patterns. For example, a resource 100 may be predicted to beunderutilized during two adjacent time intervals, A and B.Correspondingly, incentives may be offered to and accepted by twodifferent customers to respectively increase resource utilization duringintervals A and B. However, if the first customer's utilization overrunsthe end of interval A, and the second customer's utilization begins atthe beginning of interval B, the resource 100 may become overutilized,which may degrade resource performance or result in service failure.Consequently, in some embodiments strict policies regarding theboundaries of incentive intervals and related terms and conditions(e.g., the termination or cost escalation policies described above) maybe employed to provide a disincentive to customers from exceeding thoseboundaries.

One embodiment of a particular method of offering an incentive to acustomer to utilize a computing resource 100 during a given interval oftime is illustrated in FIG. 5. Referring collectively to FIGS. 1-5,operation begins in block 500 in which one or more customers (e.g., viarequesting applications 255) subscribe to an incentive notificationservice associated with a computing resource 100. For example, insubscribing to such a notification service, a customer may indicate adesire to receive notification of any incentives offered with respect tocomputing resource 100, or only those incentives meeting certaincriteria specified by the customer. In various embodiments, an incentivenotification service may be implemented by computing resource 100itself, by an interface to the resource such as web services interface120, or by another system or entity within an enterprise (e.g., one ormore of server systems 210 or web services gateway 230). In someembodiments, the notification service may be implemented alongside theimplementation of the resource utilization prediction method of FIG. 4.An incentive notification service may be implemented as a web service insome embodiments, while in other embodiments a custom or proprietarymessaging API may be used to implement the notification service.

Subsequently, an opportunity to offer an incentive for resourceutilization is detected (block 502). For example, as described abovewith respect to FIG. 4, predicted utilization of computing resource 100may be less than a given level of utilization during a particularinterval of time.

In response to detecting the incentive opportunity, one of the customerssubscribed to the incentive notification service is notified of theincentive (block 504). For example, a web services message or anothertype of message may be generated and conveyed to a particular customersystem 250 indicating the details of the incentive. In some embodiments,if a customer has specified certain notification criteria, the customermay only be notified if the generated incentive satisfies thosecriteria.

The notified customer then either accepts or declines the offeredincentive (block 506). If the customer accepts, the offered portion ofresource utilization is allocated to the customer, and the methodcompletes (block 508). If the customer declines, and other subscribedcustomers remain to be notified, the remaining customers are notified inturn (blocks 510, 504). In some embodiments, multiple incentive offersmay be made concurrently, and thus notification of remaining customersmay not be dependent upon a previously notified customer declining theoffer. If no subscribed customer accepts the offered incentive, themethod may complete without taking further action (block 512). In someembodiments, other methods of offering incentives to customers may beemployed if no subscribed customer accepts the offered incentive, orbefore any offer to a subscribed customer is made.

In some embodiments, once an opportunity to offer an incentive forresource utilization is detected (e.g., in response to predictingresource underutilization), the types of incentives offered and theparticular customers to which incentives are offered may be chosen tooptimize other business goals. That is, while a primary business goalmay be to increase utilization under certain circumstances throughincentives, a secondary business goal may be to increase utilizationsubject to optimizing some other constraint(s). For example, if acertain degree of excess resource capacity is predicted, an enterprisemay seek to minimize the overhead in managing the utilization of theexcess capacity by attempting to find a single customer willing toutilize the entirety of the excess during the time interval of interest.That is, it may be more efficient for the enterprise to deal withoffering incentives to a small number of customers rather than a largenumber.

However, in some instances, committing a quantity of resource capacityto a single customer under an incentive may be disadvantageous. Forexample, if a single customer commits to utilizing excess capacityduring an incentive interval, but continues utilizing the resource afterthe interval ends, there may be insufficient resource capacity to meetdemand following the interval when demand may rise. Thus, if there is arisk of resource oversubscription due to one or a small number ofcustomers monopolizing a resource, an enterprise may choose to offerincentives to a larger number of customers, to hold a certain amount ofexcess capacity in reserve for contingencies, or to implement a pricingmodel that discourages oversubscription. In general, the enterprise maytake other suitable actions to optimize or satisfy constraints on howutilization improvement may be accomplished through incentives.

Additionally, once an opportunity to offer an incentive for resourceutilization is detected, it is contemplated that in some embodiments,the specific incentive offered may depend upon the customer to whom theincentive is offered. For example, customers who subscribe to a higherlevel of quality of service, customers who conduct large volumes ofbusiness, longstanding customers, or other categories of customers maybe offered incentives that may be more preferential than incentivesoffered to other classes of customers. In some embodiments, if fewerthan all customers within an eligible class or group are offered anincentive, the customers to be offered the incentive may be selectedaccording to a suitable selection algorithm. For example, selection mayoccur randomly, on the basis of recent customer activity, in around-robin fashion, or according to another algorithm. If an incentiveoffer is rejected by a customer, another customer may be selected toreceive the same incentive offer, or a different offer may be made toanother customer. In some embodiments, an incentive offer may include anindication of an expiration date or time, or may expire after a defaultor implicit amount of time passes. An expired incentive offer may bedeemed to have been rejected by a customer.

In the embodiment described above, an incentive is offered to each ofseveral subscribed customers in turn. However, in some embodiments, suchan offer may be made by broadcasting a notification to all subscribedcustomers, or even all customers regardless of their subscriptionstatus, and allocating the resource 100 to the first customer(s) torespond with acceptance of the offer. In some embodiments, the number ofcustomers to which an incentive offer is broadcast may be dependent upona prediction of the degree to which the offers will be accepted.

In some embodiments, the offering of an incentive to utilize a computingresource 100 may be implicit in an arrangement made with a customer inadvance, rather than dependent upon explicit notification and acceptanceof the offer as shown in FIG. 5. An exemplary embodiment of a method ofsuch implicit incentives is illustrated in FIG. 6. Referringcollectively to FIGS. 1-6, operation begins in block 600 where acustomer submits a task, job, request or other type of work to beperformed by a computing resource if specified incentive conditions,rules or constraints are met. For example, in one embodiment a customer(e.g., via a requesting application 255) may convey a request to a webservices resource 100 to perform a particular task. The request mayinclude incentive constraints, e.g., specifying that the request shouldonly be processed during times when web services processing rates arebeneath a threshold value, or another suitable expression of aconstraint. In one embodiment, when work is initially submitted, it isnot immediately processed, but rather kept dormant until incentiveconstraints may be evaluated as described below.

An opportunity to offer an incentive for utilization of the computingresource 100 is then detected (block 602). For example, as describedabove with respect to FIGS. 4 & 5, predicted utilization of computingresource 100 may be less than a given level of utilization during aparticular interval of time.

In response to detecting the incentive opportunity, it is determinedwhether the incentive satisfies the constraints previously specified bythe customer (block 604). If not, the customer's requested task is keptdormant (block 606). If so, the customer's requested task is processed(block 608). In some embodiments, processing may continue for aspecified period of time (e.g., the interval for which resource 100 waspredicted to be underutilized) or as long as the incentive constraintscontinue to be satisfied. Also, in some embodiments, multiple customersmay submit requests with respective incentive constraints. In suchembodiments, each such customer's request may be evaluated serially orconcurrently when an incentive opportunity is detected to determinewhether the incentive satisfies the constraints of a particularcustomer.

In some embodiments, a customer may specify more complex constraints fordetermining when work should be performed. For example, a customer mayspecify an incentive threshold for a given job, as described above, aswell as a deadline before which the job must be started or completed atany cost. In such an example, if the incentive threshold conditions aresatisfied prior to the deadline, the job may be performed according tothe incentive. Otherwise, the job may be performed according to thedeadline constraint. Other combinations of constraints are possible andcontemplated. For example, a customer may specify one set of incentiveconstraints that apply during one time period, and another during asecond time period.

In some embodiments, rather than offering incentives for utilization ofa computing resource 100 specifically in response to predictingunderutilization of the resource 100, incentives may be incorporatedwithin a general, dynamic pricing model for the resource 100. Ratherthan assuming default pricing conditions and modeling incentives asdeviations from those conditions, in one embodiment such a dynamic modelmay more or less continuously predict utilization of resource 100 andset or adjust pricing according to the prediction. Customers may thenopportunistically determine whether or not to utilize resource 100according to whether the current price of the resource during the timeinterval of interest meets their requirements.

One embodiment of such a method of dynamic resource pricing isillustrated in FIG. 7. Referring collectively to FIGS. 1-3 & 7,operation begins in block 700 where expected utilization of a computingresource 100 is dynamically predicted for a given future interval oftime. In some embodiments, dynamic prediction of resource utilizationmay be similar to that described above in conjunction with thedescription of FIG. 4. In one particular embodiment, dynamic resourceutilization prediction may take into account feedback from the status ofprevious predictions, such as the comparison of a previous predictionagainst actual utilization for a given interval.

The price of computing resource 100 is then set or adjusted according tothe predicted utilization (block 702). For example, if utilization ispredicted to increase for a given future time interval, thecorresponding price for utilization during the given future timeinterval may be raised. Correspondingly, if future utilization ispredicted to decrease, the corresponding price may be decreased. In someembodiments, setting a resource price dependent upon a predictedutilization may include adjusting (e.g. incrementally) the price as afunction of a previous price, while in other embodiments a resourceprice may be set arbitrarily dependent upon predicted utilization.

The price of computing resource 100 is then provided to customers (block704). For example, the resource price for a given future interval oftime may be made available to customers through a web service, e.g., asa request for quote. Actual resource utilization during the predictedtime interval is then measured (block 706) and fed back into thepredictive step (block 700). In various embodiments, the length of thetime intervals for which utilization is predicted, the distance into thefuture for which predictions are made, and the increment (if any) bywhich resource pricing is adjusted may all be dynamically variableparameters of the pricing algorithm. Additionally, in some embodimentsthe dynamic pricing algorithm may be combined with and reflect theeffects of various specific incentive offers, such as those describedabove and shown in FIGS. 4-6.

Although the embodiment of FIG. 7 is described in terms of price ofcomputing resource 100, in various embodiments any parameter associatedwith offering utilization of computing resource 100 may be set oradjusted in a similar fashion. For example, offer parameters that may beset dependent upon dynamically predicted utilization may include theamount or degree of utilization permitted according to the offer, aquality of service associated with the offer, a duration for which theoffer may be valid, or a granularity with which units of utilization maybe measured, as well as other desired parameters.

It is noted that in some embodiments, the methods and techniquesdescribed above may allow an enterprise to provision computing resources100 for its own internal requirements (e.g., the computing needs ofenterprise resource clients 130) and to effectively make use ofcomputing resources 100 during times when those resources areunderutilized by offering utilization incentives to external customers.That is, in such embodiments, the utilization prediction and incentivealgorithms may be configured to give priority to internal resourceclients 130. However, in some embodiments, internal resource clients 130may compete evenly with external resource customers 140 for utilizationof resources 100 in a dynamic open market. It is further contemplatedthat the methods and techniques described above may be used solelywithin an enterprise without offering resources 100 to externalcustomers. For example, in a large enterprise, the cost of resources 100may be allocated to individual business units using incentives and/ordynamic pricing, as described above, in order to encourage levelresource utilization across the enterprise.

Exemplary Computer System Embodiment

In some embodiments, any of the methods or techniques described abovemay be implemented as program instructions and data capable of beingstored or conveyed via a computer-accessible medium. Such methods ortechniques may include, for example and without limitation, the variousmethods of offering resource utilization incentives to customersillustrated in FIGS. 4-6 as well as the method of dynamic resourceutilization pricing illustrated in FIG. 7. Such program instructions maybe executed to perform a particular computational function, such asreceiving and processing resource utilization requests (e.g., webservices requests), performing utilization predictions, determiningresource utilization status, determining incentives to be offered,operating system functionality, application functionality, and/or anyother suitable functions. As noted above, in some embodiments suchprogram instructions may be implemented as utilization prediction logic235 that may be executable on, e.g., web services gateway 230 and/orservers 210.

One exemplary embodiment of a computer system includingcomputer-accessible media is illustrated in FIG. 8. In the illustratedembodiment, computer system 900 includes one or more processors 910coupled to a system memory 920 via an input/output (I/O) interface 930.Computer system 900 further includes a network interface 940 coupled toI/O interface 930. Computer system 900 may be illustrative of oneembodiment of server systems 210, web services gateway 230, or customersystems 250, although the specific configuration of computer system 900may vary for different embodiments of these systems. In one embodiment,computer system 900 may also correspond to computing resource 100itself.

In various embodiments computer system 900 may be a uniprocessor systemincluding one processor 910, or a multiprocessor system includingseveral processors 910 (e.g., two, four, eight, or another suitablenumber). Processors 910 may be any suitable processor capable ofexecuting instructions. For example, in various embodiments processors910 may be a general-purpose or embedded processor implementing any of avariety of instruction set architectures (ISAs), such as the x86,PowerPC, SPARC, or MIPS ISAs, or any other suitable ISA. Inmultiprocessor systems, each of processors 910 may commonly, but notnecessarily, implement the same ISA.

System memory 920 may be configured to store instructions and dataaccessible by process 910. In various embodiments, system memory 920 maybe implemented using any suitable memory technology, such as staticrandom access memory (SRAM), synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM),nonvolatile/Flash-type memory, or any other type of memory. In theillustrated embodiment, program instructions and data implementingdesired functions, such as those described above, are shown storedwithin system memory 920 as code 925.

In one embodiment, I/O interface 930 may be configured to coordinate I/Otraffic between processor 910, system memory 920, and any peripheraldevices in the device, including network interface 940 or otherperipheral interfaces. In some embodiments, I/O interface 930 mayperform any necessary protocol, timing or other data transformations toconvert data signals from one component (e.g., system memory 920) into aformat suitable for use by another component (e.g., processor 910). Insome embodiments, I/O interface 930 may include support for devicesattached through various types of peripheral buses, such as a variant ofthe Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus standard or theUniversal Serial Bus (USB) standard, for example. In some embodiments,the function of I/O interface 930 may be split into two or more separatecomponents, such as a north bridge and a south bridge, for example.Also, in some embodiments some or all of the functionality of I/Ointerface 930, such as an interface to system memory 920, may beincorporated directly into processor 910.

Network interface 940 may be configured to allow data to be exchangedbetween computer system 900 and other devices attached to a network,such as other computer systems, for example. In various embodiments,network interface 940 may support communication via wired or wirelessgeneral data networks, such as any suitable type of Ethernet network,for example; via telecommunications/telephony networks such as analogvoice networks or digital fiber communications networks; via storagearea networks such as Fibre Channel SANs, or via any other suitable typeof network and/or protocol.

In some embodiments, system memory 920 may be one embodiment of acomputer-accessible medium configured to store program instructions anddata as described above. However, in other embodiments, programinstructions and/or data may be received, sent or stored upon differenttypes of computer-accessible media. Generally speaking, acomputer-accessible medium may include storage media or memory mediasuch as magnetic or optical media, e.g., disk or CD/DVD coupled tocomputer system 900 via I/O interface 930. A computer-accessible mediummay also include any volatile or non-volatile media such as RAM (e.g.SDRAM, DDR SDRAM, RDRAM, SRAM, etc.), ROM, etc, that may be included insome embodiments of computer system 900 as system memory 920 or anothertype of memory. Further, a computer-accessible medium may be accessiblevia transmission media or signals such as electrical, electromagnetic,or digital signals, conveyed via a communication medium such as anetwork and/or a wireless link, such as may be implemented via networkinterface 940.

Although the embodiments above have been described in considerabledetail, numerous variations and modifications will become apparent tothose skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated.It is intended that the following claims be interpreted to embrace allsuch variations and modifications.

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising: provisioning for an enterprise an enterprise-side web services computing resource to accommodate a given level of the enterprise's anticipated utilization; an enterprise-side computer system of the enterprise dynamically predicting the enterprise's own utilization of the enterprise-side web services computing resource that is expected to occur during a given interval of time; dependent upon said dynamically predicted utilization, said enterprise-side computer system setting a price to be charged for utilization of said web services computing resource by an entity other than the enterprise occurring during said given interval of time; and said enterprise-side computer system electronically providing said price to a client-side computer system for presentation to a customer associated with the client-side computer system as the price said customer will be charged for utilization of said web services computing resource during said given interval of time, wherein the client-side computer system is external to the enterprise.
 2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said web services computing resource is configured to present a software function to said customer via a web services interface, and wherein setting said price to be charged for utilization of said web services computing resource comprises determining a cost per web services request submitted by said customer via said web services interface.
 3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said web services computing resource is configured to present one or more of a data storage resource, a processing resource or a network communication resource to said customer via a web services interface.
 4. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein dynamically predicting said utilization of said web services computing resource is dependent upon historical utilization of said web services computing resource.
 5. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein dynamically predicting said utilization of said web services computing resource is dependent upon current utilization of said web services computing resource.
 6. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein setting said price includes increasing said price in response to determining at a particular time that utilization of said web services computing resource is predicted to be higher during said given interval of time than at said particular time.
 7. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein setting said price includes decreasing said price in response to determining at a particular time that utilization of said web services computing resource is predicted to be lower during said given interval of time than at said particular time.
 8. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein setting said price includes decreasing said price in response to determining at a particular time that utilization of said web services computing resource during said given interval of time is predicted to be less than a given level of utilization for which said web services computing resource is provisioned.
 9. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said price is provided to said customer via a web services interface.
 10. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein dynamically predicting utilization of said web services computing resource includes providing an explicit indication of a prediction of said utilization.
 11. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein dynamically predicting utilization of said web services computing resource includes providing an implicit indication of a prediction of said utilization.
 12. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein dynamically predicting utilization of said computing resource includes providing a prediction based on at least one variable other than historical or current utilization of said web services computing resource.
 13. A tangible computer-accessible storage medium comprising program instructions, wherein the program instructions are executable by an enterprise-side computer system of an enterprise to: dynamically predict the enterprise's own utilization of an enterprise-side web services computing resource that is expected to occur during a given interval of time, wherein the enterprise-side web services computing resource has been provisioned to accommodate a given level of the enterprise's anticipated utilization; dependent upon said dynamically predicted utilization, set a price to be charged for utilization of said web services computing resource by an entity other than the enterprise occurring during said given interval of time; and provide said price from an enterprise-side computer system to a client-side computer system for presentation to a customer associated with the client-side computer system as the price said customer will be charged for utilization of said web services computing resource during said given interval of time, wherein the client-side computer system is external to the enterprise.
 14. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 13, wherein said web services computing resource is configured to present a software function to said customer via a web services interface, wherein said program instructions are further executable to implement said web services interface, and wherein to set said price to be charged for utilization of said web services computing resource comprises, the program instructions are further executable to determine a cost per web services request submitted by said customer via said web services interface.
 15. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 13, wherein said web services computing resource is configured to present one or more of a data storage resource, a processing resource or a network communication resource to said customer via a web services interface, wherein said program instructions are further executable to implement said web services interface.
 16. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 13, wherein dynamically predicting said utilization of said web services computing resource is dependent upon historical utilization of said web services computing resource.
 17. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 13, wherein dynamically predicting said utilization of said web services computing resource is dependent upon current utilization of said web services computing resource.
 18. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 13, wherein setting said price includes increasing said price in response to determining at a particular time that utilization of said web services computing resource is predicted to be higher during said given interval of time than at said particular time.
 19. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 13, wherein setting said price includes decreasing said price in response to determining at a particular time that utilization of said web services computing resource is predicted to be lower during said given interval of time than at said particular time.
 20. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 13, wherein setting said price includes decreasing said price in response to determining at a particular time that utilization of said web services computing resource during said given interval of time is predicted to be less than a given level of utilization for which said web services computing resource is provisioned.
 21. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 13, wherein said price is provided to said customer via a web services interface, wherein said program instructions are further executable to implement said web services interface.
 22. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 13, wherein dynamically predicting utilization of said web services computing resource includes providing an explicit indication of a prediction of said utilization.
 23. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 13, wherein dynamically predicting utilization of said web services computing resource includes providing an implicit indication of a prediction of said utilization.
 24. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 13, wherein dynamically predicting utilization of said computing resource includes providing a prediction based on at least one variable other than historical or current utilization of said web services computing resource.
 25. A system, comprising: a system memory; and a processor coupled to said system memory and configured to execute program instructions, wherein the system memory and processor are included within an enterprise-side computer system of an enterprise, and wherein the program instructions are executable to: dynamically predict the enterprise's own utilization of an enterprise-side web services computing resource that is expected to occur during a given interval of time, wherein the enterprise-side web services computing resource has been provisioned to accommodate a given level of the enterprise's anticipated utilization; dependent upon said dynamically predicted utilization, set a price to be charged for utilization of said web services computing resource by an entity other than the enterprise occurring during said given interval of time; and provide said price from an enterprise-side computer system to a client-side computer system for presentation to a customer associated with the client-side computer system as the price said customer will be charged for utilization of said web services computing resource during said given interval of time, wherein the client-side computer system is external to the enterprise.
 26. The system as recited in claim 25, wherein said web services computing resource is configured to present a software function to said customer via a web services interface, wherein said program instructions are further executable to implement said web services interface, and wherein to set said price to be charged for utilization of said web services computing resource comprises, the program instructions are further executable to determine a cost per web services request submitted by said customer via said web services interface.
 27. The system as recited in claim 25, wherein said web services computing resource is configured to present one or more of a data storage resource, a processing resource or a network communication resource to said customer via a web services interface, wherein said program instructions are further executable to implement said web services interface.
 28. The system as recited in claim 25, wherein dynamically predicting said utilization of said web services computing resource is dependent upon historical utilization of said web services computing resource.
 29. The system as recited in claim 25, wherein dynamically predicting said utilization of said web services computing resource is dependent upon current utilization of said web services computing resource.
 30. The system as recited in claim 25, wherein setting said price includes increasing said price in response to determining at a particular time that utilization of said web services computing resource is predicted to be higher during said given interval of time than at said particular time.
 31. The system as recited in claim 25, wherein setting said price includes decreasing said price in response to determining at a particular time that utilization of said web services computing resource is predicted to be lower during said given interval of time than at said particular time.
 32. The system as recited in claim 25, wherein setting said price includes decreasing said price in response to determining at a particular time that utilization of said web services computing resource during said given interval of time is predicted to be less than a given level of utilization for which said web services computing resource is provisioned.
 33. The system as recited in claim 25, wherein said price is provided to said customer via a web services interface, wherein said program instructions are further executable to implement said web services interface.
 34. The system as recited in claim 25, wherein dynamically predicting utilization of said web services computing resource includes providing an explicit indication of a prediction of said utilization.
 35. The system as recited in claim 25, wherein dynamically predicting utilization of said web services computing resource includes providing an implicit indication of a prediction of said utilization.
 36. The system as recited in claim 25, wherein dynamically predicting utilization of said computing resource includes providing a prediction based on at least one variable other than historical or current utilization of said web services computing resource.
 37. A system, comprising: one or more computers, each comprising a processor and memory, configured to: host an enterprise-side web service; and implement utilization prediction functionality for an enterprise, wherein the utilization prediction functionality is configured to: dynamically predict the enterprise's own utilization of said web service that is expected to occur during a given interval of time, wherein said utilization includes web services requests submitted to said web service, and wherein the enterprise-side web service has been provisioned to accommodate a given level of the enterprise's anticipated utilization; dependent upon said dynamically predicted utilization, set a price to be charged for utilization of said web service by an entity other than the enterprise occurring during said given interval of time; and provide said price to a requesting application program configured to submit web service requests to said web service via a network as the price to be charged for utilization of said web service by said requesting application program during said given interval of time, wherein the requesting application program executes on a client-side computer system that is external to the enterprise.
 38. The system as recited in claim 37, wherein said enterprise-side web service and said utilization prediction functionality are both provided by the same enterprise.
 39. The system as recited in claim 37, further comprising a web services gateway configured to receive web services requests from said requesting application program and to host said utilization prediction functionality.
 40. A system, comprising: one or more computers, each comprising a processor and memory, configured to: host an enterprise-side web service; and implement utilization prediction functionality for an enterprise, wherein the utilization prediction functionality is configured to: dynamically predict the enterprise's own utilization of said web service that is expected to occur during a given interval of time and which includes web services requests submitted to said web service, and wherein said web service is provisioned to accommodate a given level of the enterprise's anticipated utilization; and in response to dynamically predicting that utilization of said web service by the enterprise will be less than said given level of utilization during said given interval of time, electronically offer an incentive to a requesting application program to utilize said web service during at least a portion of said given interval of time, such that offering said incentive to said requesting application program is triggered by dynamically predicting that the utilization of said web services will be less than the given level of resource utilization, and such that offering said incentive to said requesting application program occurs without dependence on a specific request by said requesting application program to utilize said web services; wherein said requesting application program is configured to submit web services requests to said web service via a network, and wherein said requesting application program executes on a client-side computer system that is external to the enterprise.
 41. The system as recited in claim 40, wherein utilization of said web services computing resource occurs in response to receiving a web services request, wherein said web services request is included in a message formatted according to a version of eXtensible Markup Language (XML).
 42. The system as recited in claim 41, wherein said message is further formatted according to a version of Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) to include a message envelope and a message body.
 43. The system as recited in claim 41, wherein said message is received over said network according to a version of Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP).
 44. The system as recited in claim 40, wherein said one or more computers are further configured to provide an interface description of said web service in a format compliant with a version of Web Services Description Language (WSDL) protocol.
 45. A computer-implemented method, comprising: an enterprise-side computer system of an enterprise dynamically predicting the enterprise's own utilization of an enterprise-side web services computing resource that is expected to occur during a given interval of time, wherein said web services computing resource is provisioned according to accommodate a given level of the enterprise's anticipated resource utilization; and in response to dynamically predicting that the utilization of said web services computing resource by the enterprise will be less than the given level of resource utilization during said given interval of time, said computer system electronically offering an incentive to a client-side computer system for presentation to a customer to utilize said web services computing resource during at least a portion of said given interval of time, such that offering said incentive to said customer is triggered by said computer system dynamically predicting that the utilization of said web services computing resource will be less than the given level of resource utilization, and such that offering said incentive to said customer occurs without dependence on a specific request by said customer to utilize said web services computing resource, wherein the client-side computer system is external to the enterprise.
 46. The method as recited in claim 45, wherein utilization of said web services computing resource occurs in response to receiving a web services request, wherein said web services request is included in a message formatted according to a version of eXtensible Markup Language (XML).
 47. The method as recited in claim 46, wherein said message is further formatted according to a version of Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) to include a message envelope and a message body.
 48. The method as recited in claim 46, wherein said message is received over a network according to a version of Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP).
 49. The method as recited in claim 45, further comprising providing an interface description of said web services computing resource in a format compliant with a version of Web Services Description Language (WSDL) protocol.
 50. A computer-implemented method, comprising: an enterprise-side computer system of an enterprise dynamically predicting the enterprise's own utilization of a web services computing resource that is expected to occur during a given interval of time, wherein the web services computing resource has been provisioned to accommodate a given level of the enterprise's anticipated utilization; dependent upon said dynamically predicted utilization, said enterprise-side computer system setting an offer parameter applicable to utilization of said web services computing resource by an entity other than the enterprise occurring during said given interval of time; and said enterprise-side computer system electronically providing said offer parameter to a client-side computer system for presentation to a customer associated with the client-side computer system, such that the offer parameter is applicable to said customer's utilization of said web services computing resource during said given interval of time, and wherein the client-side computer system is external to the enterprise.
 51. The method as recited in claim 50, wherein said offer parameter includes a price associated with said utilization.
 52. The method as recited in claim 50, wherein said offer parameter includes a quality of service associated with said utilization.
 53. The method as recited in claim 50, wherein said offer parameter includes a duration for which an offer for utilization of said web services computing resource will be valid.
 54. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said web services computing resource is configured to present a software function to said customer via a web services interface, and wherein setting said price to be charged for utilization of said web services computing resource comprises determining a number of web services requests said customer will be permitted to submit via said web services interface during said given interval of time. 